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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Hating Game in Books
Feb 12, 2023
15 of 235
Book
The Hating Game
By Sally Thorne
⭐️
Now a film starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell, globally bestselling author Sally Thorne's hilarious workplace comedy is all about the fine line between love and hate.
Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman sit across from each other every day . . . and they hate each other.
Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. HATE. Lucy can't understand Joshua's joyless, uptight approach to his job and refusal to smile. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy's overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and desire to be liked.
Now they're up for the same promotion and Lucy, usually a determined people-pleaser, has had enough: it's time to take him down. But as the tension between Lucy and Joshua reaches its boiling point, it's clear that the real battle has only just begun . . .
I can’t even try! The only reason I continued was because I had already DNFd 2 books this month. I don’t trash books as we all like different things but my hod my brain was numb! It should not have taken me this long to read a basic book. I’m so sorry to anyone who finds this not to their liking but I’m glad it’s over!
Book
The Hating Game
By Sally Thorne
⭐️
Now a film starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell, globally bestselling author Sally Thorne's hilarious workplace comedy is all about the fine line between love and hate.
Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman sit across from each other every day . . . and they hate each other.
Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. HATE. Lucy can't understand Joshua's joyless, uptight approach to his job and refusal to smile. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy's overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and desire to be liked.
Now they're up for the same promotion and Lucy, usually a determined people-pleaser, has had enough: it's time to take him down. But as the tension between Lucy and Joshua reaches its boiling point, it's clear that the real battle has only just begun . . .
I can’t even try! The only reason I continued was because I had already DNFd 2 books this month. I don’t trash books as we all like different things but my hod my brain was numb! It should not have taken me this long to read a basic book. I’m so sorry to anyone who finds this not to their liking but I’m glad it’s over!
David McK (3562 KP) rated The War Prince (Warrior #3) in Books
May 30, 2023
I think I'd posted previously that I'd heard (read) that Simon Scarrow and Tj Andrews 'Warrior' series of e-book novellas was to be a series of five.
If so, we're now at the halfway point.
(The previous entries being The King in Rome and The Druid's Lair).
We're also now past Caratacus' childhood and teenage years, with the protagonist hearing recounting how his training at the hands of the Druids came to an end when he was summoned home in order to participate in an assembly of tribes in an attempt over the, uhhh, 'ownership' of Lhandain.
Whilst all concerned do, initially (pre assembly), agree to abide by the resolution reached by the Druid High Council, this soon falls by the wayside when it is discovered that those on the council are just as venal and corrupt as any other (with Caratacus, as he recounts the tale, laying the blame squarely on Rome).
I'll continue reading these - I do also have to say, I'm intrigued by the 'modern day' (well, modern day to the historian in Nero's Empire who is documenting the story, not modern day to us) opening and closing of each novella - is he bringing unwelcome attention to himself?
If so, we're now at the halfway point.
(The previous entries being The King in Rome and The Druid's Lair).
We're also now past Caratacus' childhood and teenage years, with the protagonist hearing recounting how his training at the hands of the Druids came to an end when he was summoned home in order to participate in an assembly of tribes in an attempt over the, uhhh, 'ownership' of Lhandain.
Whilst all concerned do, initially (pre assembly), agree to abide by the resolution reached by the Druid High Council, this soon falls by the wayside when it is discovered that those on the council are just as venal and corrupt as any other (with Caratacus, as he recounts the tale, laying the blame squarely on Rome).
I'll continue reading these - I do also have to say, I'm intrigued by the 'modern day' (well, modern day to the historian in Nero's Empire who is documenting the story, not modern day to us) opening and closing of each novella - is he bringing unwelcome attention to himself?
My Dad Wrote a Porno: The Fully Annotated Edition of Rocky Flintstone's Belinda Blinked
Alice Levine, Jamie Morton, James Cooper and Rocky Flintstone
Book
The fully annotated, fully filthy, fully hilarious book from the Number 1 podcast sensation My Dad...
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Start Here: Doing Hard Things Right Where You Are in Books
Apr 27, 2018
I found Start Here to be very inspirational. The Harris’ get down to the point quickly and concisely.
Start Here is a light easy read, but then how can a Christian living book be light? They talk about pride and sin and giving glory to God, they talk about peer pressure and stress and fears and the Father of Lies. But they also encourage teenagers to get out of the box that our society has put them in. It’s light and easy in that it’s an easily understood page-turner.
The Harris’ first book, Do Hard Things, was about encouraging teens to do just that—to do hard things—for God. In Start Here, they talk about how to go about doing those hard things, what to do when you encounter fear, press, or peer pressure, and answer all the tough questions.
One of the points that they make is that your hard thing may not be to sail around the world at age sixteen or to make a movie or to start a nonprofit organization or anything else big. Your hard thing might be what some people consider a small thing, and it may be something that nobody even knows about. But God wants you to do that hard thing because in the long run, it changes your heart for the better. At the back of Start Here is a list of 100 things that people have contributed too, and I want to share a few with you:
Sold all the clothes I didn’t need and gave the money to charity
worked up to 100 pushups in four weeks
saved my first kiss for my wedding day
read a book out loud to my younger siblings
let my brother win an argument
Babysat for a single mom who could not pay me much
Set a budget and stuck with it.
Maybe these people aren’t going to be front page news… but their hard things are pretty important.
Start Here will encourage, inspire, and help you through whatever it is that God has for you, whether you know about it right now or not. Consider it a handbook, and use it side by side with your main instruction manual (The Bible).
Recommendation: Ages 11+ Adults do hard things, too! They also will benefit from this book.
(book provided for review by publisher)
Start Here is a light easy read, but then how can a Christian living book be light? They talk about pride and sin and giving glory to God, they talk about peer pressure and stress and fears and the Father of Lies. But they also encourage teenagers to get out of the box that our society has put them in. It’s light and easy in that it’s an easily understood page-turner.
The Harris’ first book, Do Hard Things, was about encouraging teens to do just that—to do hard things—for God. In Start Here, they talk about how to go about doing those hard things, what to do when you encounter fear, press, or peer pressure, and answer all the tough questions.
One of the points that they make is that your hard thing may not be to sail around the world at age sixteen or to make a movie or to start a nonprofit organization or anything else big. Your hard thing might be what some people consider a small thing, and it may be something that nobody even knows about. But God wants you to do that hard thing because in the long run, it changes your heart for the better. At the back of Start Here is a list of 100 things that people have contributed too, and I want to share a few with you:
Sold all the clothes I didn’t need and gave the money to charity
worked up to 100 pushups in four weeks
saved my first kiss for my wedding day
read a book out loud to my younger siblings
let my brother win an argument
Babysat for a single mom who could not pay me much
Set a budget and stuck with it.
Maybe these people aren’t going to be front page news… but their hard things are pretty important.
Start Here will encourage, inspire, and help you through whatever it is that God has for you, whether you know about it right now or not. Consider it a handbook, and use it side by side with your main instruction manual (The Bible).
Recommendation: Ages 11+ Adults do hard things, too! They also will benefit from this book.
(book provided for review by publisher)
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Tempests and Slaughter: the Numair Chronicles Book 1 in Books
Apr 5, 2018
Tamora's excellent writing (2 more)
Awesome worldbuilding
ENZI
A new Tamora Pierce book! About the origins of Numair! YES! I waited SO ANXIOUSLY for this book to make its way through the line of holds at my library and get in my grabby hands, and I was rewarded. Tempests is classic Tamora Pierce. It's set in Carthak, not Tortall, but the themes and feel are exactly what I was expecting. I love diving back into my favorite fantasy worlds, and Tortall ranks right near the top. (It might be the top, I haven't sat down and attempted to rank them - that would probably be a futile effort!)
My only issue with the book, really, is that it feels like an introduction. I know it's the first part of a trilogy, but the rest isn't OUT YET! So I feel like I've read the first third of a story and now I have to wait. Tempests introduces a LOT of story threads, and resolves exactly none of them. It managed to do so without leaving us on a cliffhanger, though, so there's that, at least. I'm probably going to go re-read the books around Numair's adult life to tide me over until the rest of this trilogy comes out!
I think my favorite character overall was Enzi - he was hilarious and obstinate and I'm looking forward to the rest of his storyline.
I was surprised but pleased to see a gay couple as side characters - and that it wasn't mentioned the character was gay until his husband arrived on the scene. It wasn't a defining point of his character, his spouse just happened to be male. I've said it before, but I love seeing the change in fantasy - it's gone from "that's strange or scandalous" to "absolutely no big deal, people have differently-gendered partners." It will be even lovelier once real society reaches that point!
Final verdict: Tempests and Slaughter was an excellent addition to Tortall, but if you like books that resolve their storylines, you might want to wait until the rest of the trilogy is published. If you can't wait, just expect that you won't get many answers from this first book!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
My only issue with the book, really, is that it feels like an introduction. I know it's the first part of a trilogy, but the rest isn't OUT YET! So I feel like I've read the first third of a story and now I have to wait. Tempests introduces a LOT of story threads, and resolves exactly none of them. It managed to do so without leaving us on a cliffhanger, though, so there's that, at least. I'm probably going to go re-read the books around Numair's adult life to tide me over until the rest of this trilogy comes out!
I think my favorite character overall was Enzi - he was hilarious and obstinate and I'm looking forward to the rest of his storyline.
I was surprised but pleased to see a gay couple as side characters - and that it wasn't mentioned the character was gay until his husband arrived on the scene. It wasn't a defining point of his character, his spouse just happened to be male. I've said it before, but I love seeing the change in fantasy - it's gone from "that's strange or scandalous" to "absolutely no big deal, people have differently-gendered partners." It will be even lovelier once real society reaches that point!
Final verdict: Tempests and Slaughter was an excellent addition to Tortall, but if you like books that resolve their storylines, you might want to wait until the rest of the trilogy is published. If you can't wait, just expect that you won't get many answers from this first book!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Deborah (162 KP) rated The Marlowe Papers in Books
Dec 21, 2018
I thought this was a really interesting idea; a 'novel (if that's even the right word!) written entirely in Blank Verse. Obviously the subject matter was also one that interested me.
The book apparently formed part of Barber's PhD and her central theory is the one that playwright and intelligencer Christopher Marlowe did not in fact die in Deptford as supposed. Subsidiary to this is the idea that William Shakespeare was just a front man for a whole host of plays written by an exiled Marlowe. Despite appearing in a production of Doctor Faustus as a teenager, I will admit that I am not terribly au fait with the details of Marlowe's life but having read Barber's work and the notes at the back, I can see there is some mileage in the idea of him having not actually died as reported; certainly there appears something fishy going on. I'm less convinced by the idea that someone else 'must' have written Shakespeare's plays. If Marlowe could be successful as the son of a Kentish Cobbler, why can't we believe the same of the son of a Stratford glover? Be that as it may, that is the stance Barber has chosen to take and I can accept what she gives me for the purpose of her 'entertainment' of 'what might have happened'.
As to the book itself, it's about 400 pages long and I think it took about 100 of those before I felt I was really getting into it. I'm not sure if it was adjusting to the style of the work (I read some plays in Blank Verse, but I'm not a great poetry lover) or if the early section was more chronologically disjointed and more tricky to get into the swing of the action? I am glad I persevered though, as I did end up enjoying it. On the other hand, I can more than understand that some people won't find it their cup of tea at all - I don't think there is any other work, at least not in English, that is written in quite the same way. It certainly must have been a labour of love getting exactly the right words to make all that Iambic Pentameter work, so hats off to Barber on this score.
Now I feel like seeing if I can find a decent biography of Marlowe, and surely that can only be a good thing.
The book apparently formed part of Barber's PhD and her central theory is the one that playwright and intelligencer Christopher Marlowe did not in fact die in Deptford as supposed. Subsidiary to this is the idea that William Shakespeare was just a front man for a whole host of plays written by an exiled Marlowe. Despite appearing in a production of Doctor Faustus as a teenager, I will admit that I am not terribly au fait with the details of Marlowe's life but having read Barber's work and the notes at the back, I can see there is some mileage in the idea of him having not actually died as reported; certainly there appears something fishy going on. I'm less convinced by the idea that someone else 'must' have written Shakespeare's plays. If Marlowe could be successful as the son of a Kentish Cobbler, why can't we believe the same of the son of a Stratford glover? Be that as it may, that is the stance Barber has chosen to take and I can accept what she gives me for the purpose of her 'entertainment' of 'what might have happened'.
As to the book itself, it's about 400 pages long and I think it took about 100 of those before I felt I was really getting into it. I'm not sure if it was adjusting to the style of the work (I read some plays in Blank Verse, but I'm not a great poetry lover) or if the early section was more chronologically disjointed and more tricky to get into the swing of the action? I am glad I persevered though, as I did end up enjoying it. On the other hand, I can more than understand that some people won't find it their cup of tea at all - I don't think there is any other work, at least not in English, that is written in quite the same way. It certainly must have been a labour of love getting exactly the right words to make all that Iambic Pentameter work, so hats off to Barber on this score.
Now I feel like seeing if I can find a decent biography of Marlowe, and surely that can only be a good thing.
Debbiereadsbook (1449 KP) rated His Lordship's Secret (His Lordship’s Mysteries #1) in Books
Mar 24, 2022
didn't get the whodunnit!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
Someone is trying to kill Alfred, so who would make a better bodyguard than a ruffain from a boxing match? Dominick, thats who, but finding the boy who saved him in the man before him makes Alfred want things, things that could get them both locked up, or worse. Makes a blackmailer a walk in the park. Dominick, finding Alfie before him, in need of a body guard, has feelings that he wasn't sure ever went away: protecting little Alfie was now his life's work. Those pesky feelings aren't reciprocated, are they?
Alfie is lovely! He wants to keep his family wealth but his cousin is happy to pee it up the wall, Alfie cares, but Reginald does not. Dominick cares, but really only about Alfie. The little boy who stole his heart has grown into a beautiful man, one who needs to stay alive, and Dominick will keep him so, even if it costs Dominick a good deal more than his heart.
It's quite emotional, in places. Dealing with growing up in a poorhouse, and then thrown into High Society would mess with anyone's head and Alfie mostly does seem to have taken it all in his stride. Mostly. Dominck is a street man, doing what he needs to do to stay alive, even if he doesn't want to do those things. A bit violent, but dealing with life on London's streets in the 1800s was never gonna be a picnic. Poor Dominick bears the brunt of that!
There is love here, but very little actual smexy time. It concentrates more on who is trying to kill Alfie, and the feelings that grow over time, between these two.
I loved that the whodunnit was so NOT who I was expecting, nor was it WHY! I love being kept on my toes!
I liked this, I liked it a lot. It doesn't quite have the punch that the other book I read by this author does, but I think its a close call! I have book 2 to read shortly, look forward to see where the author is going with these two, besides Scotland!
4 solid stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Someone is trying to kill Alfred, so who would make a better bodyguard than a ruffain from a boxing match? Dominick, thats who, but finding the boy who saved him in the man before him makes Alfred want things, things that could get them both locked up, or worse. Makes a blackmailer a walk in the park. Dominick, finding Alfie before him, in need of a body guard, has feelings that he wasn't sure ever went away: protecting little Alfie was now his life's work. Those pesky feelings aren't reciprocated, are they?
Alfie is lovely! He wants to keep his family wealth but his cousin is happy to pee it up the wall, Alfie cares, but Reginald does not. Dominick cares, but really only about Alfie. The little boy who stole his heart has grown into a beautiful man, one who needs to stay alive, and Dominick will keep him so, even if it costs Dominick a good deal more than his heart.
It's quite emotional, in places. Dealing with growing up in a poorhouse, and then thrown into High Society would mess with anyone's head and Alfie mostly does seem to have taken it all in his stride. Mostly. Dominck is a street man, doing what he needs to do to stay alive, even if he doesn't want to do those things. A bit violent, but dealing with life on London's streets in the 1800s was never gonna be a picnic. Poor Dominick bears the brunt of that!
There is love here, but very little actual smexy time. It concentrates more on who is trying to kill Alfie, and the feelings that grow over time, between these two.
I loved that the whodunnit was so NOT who I was expecting, nor was it WHY! I love being kept on my toes!
I liked this, I liked it a lot. It doesn't quite have the punch that the other book I read by this author does, but I think its a close call! I have book 2 to read shortly, look forward to see where the author is going with these two, besides Scotland!
4 solid stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Dana (24 KP) rated Reign of Shadows (Reign of Shadows, #1) in Books
Mar 23, 2018
Okay, so in this review, there will be some pretty general spoilers in the character descriptions, one that isn't really revealed until about thirty pages in. I will put SPOILER right in front of that one, then you can skip to where I put the asterisk to continue the paragraph if you want.
I am not overly sure on where I stand with this book. While the story itself wasn't bad, it also was not my favorite. There were some issues with me in the pacing of the story itself because a lot of the moments felt like they dragged on for a long time or that they they were repetitive.
Quite a few of the descriptions of the dwellers and other landscapes and characters were also not well described. I want to know more about what they look like, but we were not given those things.
Okay, now onto specifics. In this instance, the characters.
The guardians were very over-protective of Luna. I totally get why, but it got annoying after a while. But the bread Pearla makes sounds so freaking delicious.
Luna is a cool character. Her identity being what it is seemed like it was just pushed in the story.I know it is important later in the novel and will be coming up again in the later book(s) but it could have been mentioned or explored a little more for me. SPOILER: I did not see her being blind coming. No, that was not supposed to be a pun, but it just happened like that. I always enjoy having characters who are not perfect, especially ones who are living, surviving, and overcoming disabilities. Much of the time in books, characters often have a mental disability, if any, so it is awesome to read one where she is blind. I thought it was an awesome parallel that when she came into the world, the rest of the world went "blind" as well. That was really cool and I commend Sophie Jordan on that idea. * Okay, so as a female character, yes, she was strong and stubborn, but I didn't feel any attachment to her or her story line, which was unfortunate. I wanted to feel some sort of connection, but got nothing. I hope we get to know Luna more in the next book.
Now onto Fowler. (Note, I keep wanting to write Flower, but I think he would be pissed if he knew that and that kinda makes me want to do it even more.) Okay. So, he's kind of an ass. He wants survival and to get to this magical island where nothing bad ever happens, but he could be nicer about it. We do get some of his backstory and are able to understand part of the reason he is the way he is, but still, he's an ass. I don't like how he treats everyone, as if he's better than them, or as if they are just pawns to get rid of at the first moment he can. I hope he becomes a more likable character in the next book because I am not a fan.
Minor plot SPOILER that happens within the first fifty pages. I hate how Luna falls in love with Fowler almost instantaneously. I get that he is the first boy she meets, but geez, why? I really wanted them to become besties, not love interests. It would have made for a much more interesting story (in my opinion). CAN WE HAVE A STORY WHERE THERE IS NO LOVE INTEREST FOR THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTER???? PLEASE? THANK YOU! *
Okay, now onto plot points. We have no idea what really happened on the night Luna was born, only what her guardians told her. Also, we know nothing of the new king and why he's such a skeevy ass. Or how and why the world turned to such crap. I just want to know all of these things! There was a lot introduced, but not explained. I get that it is because this the first book in a series, but I want info to keep me intrigued instead of just being annoyed by the withholding of it.
Overall, it was a pretty interesting read. Yes, it had issues, but a lot of books do nowadays. I will most likely be picking up the next book, if only to see what happens next!
I am not overly sure on where I stand with this book. While the story itself wasn't bad, it also was not my favorite. There were some issues with me in the pacing of the story itself because a lot of the moments felt like they dragged on for a long time or that they they were repetitive.
Quite a few of the descriptions of the dwellers and other landscapes and characters were also not well described. I want to know more about what they look like, but we were not given those things.
Okay, now onto specifics. In this instance, the characters.
The guardians were very over-protective of Luna. I totally get why, but it got annoying after a while. But the bread Pearla makes sounds so freaking delicious.
Luna is a cool character. Her identity being what it is seemed like it was just pushed in the story.I know it is important later in the novel and will be coming up again in the later book(s) but it could have been mentioned or explored a little more for me. SPOILER: I did not see her being blind coming. No, that was not supposed to be a pun, but it just happened like that. I always enjoy having characters who are not perfect, especially ones who are living, surviving, and overcoming disabilities. Much of the time in books, characters often have a mental disability, if any, so it is awesome to read one where she is blind. I thought it was an awesome parallel that when she came into the world, the rest of the world went "blind" as well. That was really cool and I commend Sophie Jordan on that idea. * Okay, so as a female character, yes, she was strong and stubborn, but I didn't feel any attachment to her or her story line, which was unfortunate. I wanted to feel some sort of connection, but got nothing. I hope we get to know Luna more in the next book.
Now onto Fowler. (Note, I keep wanting to write Flower, but I think he would be pissed if he knew that and that kinda makes me want to do it even more.) Okay. So, he's kind of an ass. He wants survival and to get to this magical island where nothing bad ever happens, but he could be nicer about it. We do get some of his backstory and are able to understand part of the reason he is the way he is, but still, he's an ass. I don't like how he treats everyone, as if he's better than them, or as if they are just pawns to get rid of at the first moment he can. I hope he becomes a more likable character in the next book because I am not a fan.
Minor plot SPOILER that happens within the first fifty pages. I hate how Luna falls in love with Fowler almost instantaneously. I get that he is the first boy she meets, but geez, why? I really wanted them to become besties, not love interests. It would have made for a much more interesting story (in my opinion). CAN WE HAVE A STORY WHERE THERE IS NO LOVE INTEREST FOR THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTER???? PLEASE? THANK YOU! *
Okay, now onto plot points. We have no idea what really happened on the night Luna was born, only what her guardians told her. Also, we know nothing of the new king and why he's such a skeevy ass. Or how and why the world turned to such crap. I just want to know all of these things! There was a lot introduced, but not explained. I get that it is because this the first book in a series, but I want info to keep me intrigued instead of just being annoyed by the withholding of it.
Overall, it was a pretty interesting read. Yes, it had issues, but a lot of books do nowadays. I will most likely be picking up the next book, if only to see what happens next!